Killings in Ituri Province Highlight Need for Improved Army, UN Response The burial of people killed by the Allied Democratic Forces armed group at a church in Komanda, Ituri province, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, July 28, 2025.  © 2025 Reuters/Stringer By Human Rights Watch (Nairobi) – The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group killed more than 40 people, including several children, with guns and machetes during a nighttime church gathering on July 26-27, 2025, in eastern  Democratic Republic of Congo , Human Rights Watch said today. Several other children were abducted and remain missing. The Ugandan-led ADF pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2019, but current ties between the two armed groups are unclear. ISIS  claimed responsibility for the attack in Komanda, Ituri province, on its Telegram channel, saying 45 people were killed. The massacre heightens concerns about the ability of Congo’s national army, stationed nearby, and the United Nations peacekeeping force to protect civilians. “The Allied Democratic Forces’ killings of civilians, including worshipers in church, demonstrated incomprehensible brutality,” said  Clémentine de Montjoye , senior Great Lakes researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The massacre at Komanda and other mass killings this year highlight the insecurity in eastern Congo and the need for the Congolese government to urgently step up efforts to protect civilians and hold those responsible to account.” Komanda residents and witnesses told Human Rights Watch that worshipers had gathered for celebrations at the Catholic church on July 26, and many spent the night ahead of Sunday mass. ADF fighters entered the church compound around 1 a.m. on July 27 and began their attack on a building where people were sleeping, witnesses said. Survivors and a witness said fighters attacked people with blunt instrument blows to the head, machetes, and gunfire. According to the parish, at least 33 people died immediately or later from their injuries. “They told us to sit down, and then started hitting people [with blunt instruments] on the back of the neck. They killed two people I didn’t know, and that’s when I decided to flee with four others,” a survivor told Human Rights Watch. “We managed to run away – they shot at us but didn’t hit us.” The ADF fighters killed at least five other people in the town and set fire to houses and kiosks, according to a local civil society leader,   media reports. Videos on social media that Human Rights Watch geolocated show burned buildings on the town’s main road near the church. Human Rights Watch received the names of 39 people killed, 9 injured, and 9 children between ages 7 and 14 abducted. According to a list shared by the parish on August 2, more than 30 people were abducted, and 7 injured during the attack on the building next to the church. On July 27, the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) reported   at least 43 deaths , including 9 children, as well as people   killed in surrounding areas. According to two sources, some of those kidnapped have since escaped. The Congolese army was deployed about 3 kilometers south of the church, while MONUSCO was about a kilometer south. Human Rights Watch received information that network issues at the time of the attack impeded efforts to sound the alarm. “During all this time, neither the FARDC [Congolese army] nor MONUSCO intervened,” said a civil society leader. “The police didn’t come either. They all came eventually, but it was too late. They just saw the damage done.” The government imposed martial law in North Kivu and Ituri in April 2021 to end insecurity in the two provinces. However, martial law failed to curb abuses against civilians and enabled the military and police to curtail freedom of expression, suppress peaceful demonstrations with lethal force, and arbitrarily detain and prosecute activists, journalists, and political opposition members. Congo’s influential conference of Catholic bishops stated on July 29 that “[o]ur indignation is all the greater because this latest massacre occurred in one of the provinces that has been under [martial law] for several years, supported by the joint efforts of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and those of Uganda (UPDF), along with the decades-long presence of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission (MONUSCO).” Congo’s government condemned the killings as “horrific,” and military officials  described it as a “large-scale massacre” in response to recent military operations against the ADF. MONUSCO  condemned the killings and warned that the attacks would exacerbate “an already extremely concerning humanitarian situation in the province.” In response to written questions from Human Rights Watch, a public information officer of the rapid deployable battalion at MONUSCO’s Komanda base stated that “The ADF is known to employ silent killer tactics, striking swiftly, organized and unpredictable. In this case, the attack occurred in the early hours of the morning, targeting a religious gathering attended by a large number of civilians” and that MONUSCO had taken steps to “intensify protection efforts in the area.” A Congolese military source told Human Rights Watch that a military justice investigation had been opened and further troops deployed to the area to ensure the protection of civilians. The Congolese government and MONUSCO should urgently complete the investigation into the July attack and the response of the armed forces and MONUSCO and make its findings public. Congolese authorities, with MONUSCO’s assistance, should adopt measures to re-establish trust with civilians, including by reinforcing early warning networks and consulting with communities and civic groups about protection needs. The authorities should take all necessary steps to protect civilians, including by promptly responding to reports of armed group activity and movements. Additionally, efforts should be made to hold perpetrators of these killings, which could amount to war crimes , to account, Human Rights Watch said. In recent years, the ADF armed group has been implicated in scores of killings and abductions in North Kivu province’s Beni and Lubero territories and increasingly in the neighboring Irumu territory of Ituri province. ADF attacks earlier in July killed 82 civilians in Ituri and North Kivu,  according to the UN . The UN Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo   reported that, “January 2025 marked the second time in which ADF-attributed fatalities exceeded 200 within a single month – predominantly in the Beni region and Lubero territory.” In 2024, the ADF was the armed group  responsible for the highest number of killings in Congo, mainly civilians. In early 2025, the Ugandan armed forces expanded a joint military campaign, known as “Operation Shujaa,” that began in late 2021.  The UN reported , though, that the operation “did not curb ADF violence against civilians in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces.” Some security experts believe that the joint deployment has pushed the ADF from some strongholds near the Ugandan border further into Ituri and North Kivu provinces. The African Union and UN Security Council should press for a credible strategy to address the deepening security crisis and grave rights abuses in all parts of eastern Congo, Human Rights Watch said. “President Félix Tshisekedi, with international support, should focus on protecting civilians and providing tighter military oversight in eastern Congo to spare long-suffering communities from further atrocities,” de Montjoye said. “The government has a duty to protect civilians and ensure justice for victims of these repeated atrocities.” © 2025 Human Rights Watch

The Taliban's use of the legal and judicial system to oppress women and girls amounts to “crimes against humanity,” according to the U.N. expert. Taliban security stands guard as Afghan Shiite Muslim women march during a religious procession to mark Ashura on the 10th day of the Islamic holy month of Muharram, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 6.Wakil Koshar / AFP via Getty Images file UNITED NATIONS — Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have “weaponized” the legal and judicial system to oppress women and girls in what amounts to “crimes against humanity,” the independent U.N. investigator on human rights in the country said. Richard Bennett said in a report to the U.N. General Assembly circulated Wednesday that after seizing power in 2021 the Taliban suspended the 2004 constitution and laws protecting the rights of women and girls. These include a landmark law that criminalized 22 forms of violence against women, including rape and child and forced marriage. The Taliban dismissed all judges under the previous U.S.-backed government, including approximately 270 women, replacing them with men who share their extreme Islamic views, lack legal training and hand down decisions based on edicts issued by the Taliban, he said. In addition, he noted that the Taliban have assumed full control over law enforcement and investigative agencies, systematically purging Afghans who worked for the previous government. Bennett, who was appointed by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council, focused on access to justice and protection for women and girls in his report. He said he held meetings, focus-group discussions and one-on-one interviews with more that 110 Afghans inside and outside the country. He did so remotely because the Taliban have refused to grant him a visa to travel to Afghanistan. Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, their crackdown on women and girls has been widely reported and globally denounced. Taliban leaders have barred education for women and girls beyond sixth grade, banned most employment, and prohibited women from many public spaces, including parks, gyms and hairdressers. New laws ban women’s voices and bare faces outside the home. The Taliban remain isolated from the West because of their restrictions on women and girls and have only been recognized by Russia. Bennett said the Taliban did not respond to an advance copy of the report and a request for information about their efforts to ensure access to justice and protection for women and girls. The Taliban defend their approach to justice by claiming they are implementing Islamic sharia law, but Islamic scholars and others have said their interpretation is unparalleled in other Muslim-majority countries and does not adhere to Islamic teachings. They say protecting the legal rights of women is a priority. Bennett said, however, that women have virtually no rights. “Today, there are no women judges or prosecutors and no officially registered female lawyers, leaving women and girls with fewer safe channels to report abuse or seek redress,” he wrote. “Coupled with a lack of female officials in the police and other institutions, the result is widespread underreporting of violence and discrimination against women and girls.” Bennett said access to justice for girls “is further undermined by the dismantling of key legal safeguards and institutions protecting the rights of children,” including juvenile courts and juvenile rehabilitation centers. The Taliban requirement that a woman must be accompanied by a male relative also creates barriers to filing complaints and attending court proceedings, he said, and disproportionately affects widows, women who are the heads of their households, the displaced and disabled. “Women who engage with the Taliban court system — whether as victims seeking redress, to resolve family issues, to obtain official documents or as alleged offenders — face a hostile environment,” Bennett said. “Courts often reject complaints made by women and are especially reluctant to accept cases relating to divorce, child custody and gender-based violence.” Facing these obstacles, Bennett said, women increasingly turn to traditional and informal justice mechanisms, including formal jirgas and shuras — community councils of elders — and informal mediation by religious leaders, community elders or family. But these are all male-dominated and raise “serious concerns about the rights of women and girls,” he said. He said international forums offer the best hope for justice. He pointed to the International Criminal Court’s request on Jan. 23 for arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders accused of crimes against humanity for persecution “on gender grounds.” And he urged all countries to support efforts to bring Afghanistan before the International Court of Justice, the U.N.’s highest tribunal, for violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. © 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC

By Pindai Dube The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission is working with SA’s Public Protector to address the barring of Zimbabwean citizens from accessing public hospitals and clinics. ZHRC chairperson Jessie Majome emphasised the need for Zimbabwe to improve its healthcare system. Experts highlight that cooperation between the leaders of Zimbabwe and SA is crucial to tackle the strain on healthcare systems. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC), which plays the role of Public Protector, says it is engaging South Africa’s Public Protector with regard to the barring of Zimbabwean citizens from public hospitals and clinics. Currently, groups like Operation Dudula and other protesters are blocking foreign nationals from using public clinics and hospitals. They accuse the foreigners of placing extra strain on limited health services, at the expense of South Africans. ZHRC chairperson Jessie Majome told journalists in Harare on Saturday that she was in talks with South Africa’s Public Protector, Kholeka Gcaleka, regarding the situation. “When we had our benchmark visit with the Public Protector of South Africa recently, advocate Kholeka (Gcaleka) and myself agreed that we were going to engage in a more direct way about the issue of Zimbabweans seeking medical health in South Africa because some of them are being barred. “We agreed that we need to sit down and talk, so that we can seek resolutions to that problem,” said Majome. Majome added: "For example, we need to find out what are the causes. We have Zimbabweans who live at the borders and even across. We have citizens of our countries crossing the borders back and forth, and we also have Zimbabweans who are in South Africa who are irregular immigrants, but some of them are regular migrants." Majome added that Zimbabwe’s public hospitals needed to offer a better health delivery system, so that citizens would not cross into neighbouring countries to seek treatment. “But, on the Zimbabwean side as well, there is a need for us regarding efficiency, to increase and improve the healthcare service delivery system, so that there are less Zimbabweans who would want to cross the border to get public health services from South Africa,” she said. She said she was confident that, together with her South African counterpart, they would find a solution. “These are issues that, when we work together, I have no doubt between the two of us, me and advocate Gcaleka, we can address and contribute, from a Public Protector perspective, towards resolving that problem,” she added. Last week, prominent Zimbabwe opposition figure Tendai Biti, who is also a former finance minister, said that as long as South Africa’s government and the ANC did not confront the ruling Zanu PF party about Zimbabwe’s political crisis, citizens would continue to flock there to seek better lives. “The Constitution of Zimbabwe protects and gives rights to citizens. One of the rights that is given is the right to health, which is spelt out in terms of section 56 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. The right to health must be enjoyed by all citizens, whether he or she is in Zimbabwe, or is out of Zimbabwe. Biti said: "The long-term solution is for the ANC and South Africa to take a bold stance towards Zanu PF, so that there is a permanent resolution of the political crisis in Zimbabwe. As long as the ANC continues to see in Zanu PF a comrade, and as long as they are not prepared to confront this errant, erratic, barbaric, disastrous comrade, you have the situation where South Africa effectively is subsidising the Zimbabwe crisis." Health experts say the leaders of Zimbabwe and South Africa have to put their heads together to find a solution. They say governments must cooperate when it comes to providing health care to people across the border and particularly those within their own country. They add that, from a humanitarian perspective, medical services have to be offered while they reach out to the Zimbabwe government to see how they can collaborate - because there are so many Zimbabweans in South Africa. Zimbabwe’s health system is currently on its knees, with a shortage of medicine and poor salaries of health workers. © August 2025 News24

Protestors block highway. Photo by Olikita Ekani. As Terror, Starvation Engulf Benue Camps for Victims of Land-grabbing By Mike Odeh James and Ekani Olikita Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from a sprawling IDP Camp called Mbayongo, 5 km South of Yelewata on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, blocked the Makurdi-Lafia-Abuja expressway in protest of escalating Insecurity and starvation. The protesters mostly women and children were seen with fresh leaves, chanting, “We want to go back home, No Security, No Food.” More than 200 Christian Residents were killed, and thousands displaced and are currently being sheltered at different IDPs Camps in Benue State following the June 13 and 14 Massacre in Yelewata Community in Guma County of Benue State. This protest was coming less than 24 hours after the visit of the First Lady of Nigeria, Sen Oluremi Tinubu, who donated One Billion Naira (N1bn) to Benue State Government for upkeep of IDPs on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. 8 Dead Recorded in Two IDPs Camps In the meantime, eight (8) Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have died without explanation in two camps in Makurdi namely, Ichwa and Abagana IDPs Camps. The deceased include Mngusornon Terhile, Juliana Iorkyaa, Deoron Kwaghbee and Bemshima Nyajo from Ichwa IDPs Camp. Others include Immaculate Dooshima Azende (Daughter of Abagana IDPs Camp Chairman, Festus Azende), Kazan Ver, Aboi Aondowase, and Unaha Joy from Abagana IDPs Camp. A year-and-7 months old boy identified as Terseer Aondowase David reportedly was kidnapped from Ichwa IDPs and has yet to be rescued from the kidnappers. U.S. Ambassador Silent on Yelewata Massacre U.S.Ambassador Richard M. Mills, Jr. center, poses with envoys of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Association at the U.S. Mission in Abuja. Credit: U.S. Department of State on X. U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Richard M. Mills, Jr. who celebrated his one-year anniversary of his appointment on July 31, has made no expression of condolence regarding the Yelewata atrocity on June 14 or for the thousands of atrocities committed by Fulani ethnic militia for two decades, according to a TruthNigeria search. On the other hand, the Ambassador gave a respectful audience to four representatives of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Association in late May of this year. An unnamed State Department spokesman in Washington told Fox News Digital, “We strongly condemn these increasing attacks, including recent massacres in Benue state which primarily targeted Christian farming villages.” The unnamed spokesperson reinforced reports that the attacks on Christians are being carried out by Islamic militant groups. “The United States remains deeply concerned about the levels of violence in Nigeria, including the threats posed by terrorist groups like Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa in northern Nigeria, and the impact that violence has on all communities in Nigeria.”acres in Benue state which primarily targeted Christian farming villages.” Insecurity, Hunger Our Major Challenges — Protesters Agnes Terwase, one of the visibly angry protesters in an interview with TruthNigeria, attributed their protest to escalating Insecurity and abandonment by the government, leading unprecedented starvation and sickness. “From Yelewata down to Ortese, Igbam, Ukohol, Daudu and our IDPs Camp at Mbayongo, nowhere is safe despite the presence of police and the military. We can’t go outside our camp for fear of being attacked,” she added. “The State and Federal Governments have abandoned us as we no longer receive foods or drugs. What is the need of staying in the camp if we cannot be protected or fed? Agnes asked. Military and Police are not protecting us– Yelewata residents Residents of restive Yelewata community, the Epicenter of the June 13/14 Massacre, have raised a disturbing Security alarm on the rising terrorist violence in their community despite military presence. Damian Ugbir, Yelewata Youth Leader, decried the escalating attacks, blaming the Security Operatives for not doing enough to secure their community. “The military and the police are not going after the Fulani terrorists. For example, armed Fulani terrorists disguising as herdsmen, came with their cattle and were seen grazing inside one of our primary schools. We alerted both the police and the military. The police sent only 2 officers, who exchanged gunfire with the terrorists. The Police personnel retreated, saying they could not match the firepower of the terrorists. Instead of the military going there, they took their motorcycles, went to different location and later returned to their base,” according to Ugbir. Similarly, Thomas Ukumba, Yelewata Community Elder in an interview with TruthNigeria, added that; “Both the military and police are not here for us. They are just here to protect the Fulani terrorists,” Ukumba told TruthNigeria. “Why are they not going after the Fulani Jihadists despite assurance by the Federal Government that the Yelewata Massacre in June would mark the end of insecurity in our community?” Ukumba asked. “Our people have stopped going to distant farms for fear of being ambushed and slashed to death by the terrorists. Yet again, the terrorists are coming close to our residents, but no reaction by the military or police. We are not safe”, Ukumba said. Eight Tribal Members Dead of Illness — IDPs Camp Leaders braham Taa, Chairman of Ichwa IDPs Camp Makurdi, told TruthNigeria in an interview that, the camp has lost 4 members due to different types of ailments and lack drugs. He gave their names as Mngusornon Terhile, Juliana Iorkyaa, Deoron Kwaghbee and Bemshima Nyajo. “Our camp is no longer secured due to fallen perimeter fences at different points”, Abraham narrated. Similarly, Festus Azende, Abagana IDPs Camp Chairman also confirmed the loss 4 IDPs in his camp due to various health challenges. He gave their names as: Immaculate Dooshima Azende (his daughter), Kazan Ver, Aboi Aondowase and Unaha Joy © Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv

Outrage Grows in Nigeria’s Christian States By Mike Odeh James and Luka Binniyat Riyom Bleeds Again: Military Presence Fails to Deter Killers Nigeria’s military, one of Africa’s most experienced forces, is facing growing criticism for its failure to stop the wave of Fulani militia attacks sweeping the Middle Belt. On July 15, Fulani terrorists stormed Tashoss in Riyom County, Plateau State, killing at least 27 Christian residents, burning homes and a church, and stealing food supplies meant for the rainy season. A military checkpoint was nearby. No attacker was arrested. Governor Caleb Mutfwang praised soldiers who have sacrificed their lives but said praise without action is no longer enough. “These attackers are not spirits,” he said. “Real people carried out these atrocities and vanished without a trace.” Mutfwang demanded accountability from the Sector Commander. “You were in charge when arrests were made for a soldier’s death. Why are there no arrests today?” He warned against scapegoating innocent people and urged the military to release detained villagers unless credible evidence exists of their link to a crime. “To the people of Riyom, I say: ‘We will not bow. This is not a farmer-herder conflict. This is terrorism. This is genocide—plain and simple.’” Benue’s Battlefront: “So Who Is Being Protected?” In Benue, Governor Hyacinth Alia voiced similar frustration after Fulani terrorists massacred dozens in Gwer West and Yelewata. On May 28, 2025, Alia lamented that despite the massive deployment of troops to Benue State to curb insecurity, no terrorist was arrested. Time and again, armed Fulani invade Christian villages at night, kill and burn, then vanish—despite military or police posts often nearby. This pattern is echoed in Southern Kaduna and Taraba, where attacks sometimes last hours, yet security forces reportedly fail to respond. Infiltration and Sympathizers? Insider Reveals Franc Utoo, US based Nigerian lawyer Credit Facebook of Franc Utoo. Franc Utoo, a native of Yelewata and former Principal Special Assistant to former Governor Samuel Ortom, now based in the United States, believes military failure may be deliberate. “The military has been infiltrated,” he claimed. “Some Fulani officers stationed in Yelewata wouldn’t fight the terrorists. They’d fire shots into the air—signaling the attackers to avoid their position.” He also accused the military of disarming local vigilantes (volunteer community guards), leaving communities defenseless. However, Utoo recalled a rare moment of accountability when a Southern officer led the Yelewata unit. “Under his command, eight terrorists were killed. When their bodies were searched, we found military ID cards from Niger Republic, Mali, and other Sahelian countries.” To Utoo, the crisis is an orchestrated campaign. Expanding Frontiers of Islam or National Failure? Many Nigerian Christians from the Middle Belt states of Benue, Taraba, Plateau, and Southern Kaduna say the military is deliberately refusing to tackle Fulani terrorists to allow them to spread Islam. “The military can end Fulani terrorism,” Utoo said. “But it won’t, because many in the military hierarchy and political leadership—chiefly Fulani—see this campaign as a way to expand Islamic influence and create a homeland for Fulani from across West Africa.” rancis John, Executive Director of HOPe Africa USA, agrees. He says the Middle Belt is under systematic attack, while the government offers little more than silence. “These are Christian-majority states being terrorized by Fulani militias. Yet the federal government remains passive—because of who the victims are.” He accuses Nigerian authorities of systematic inaction and silent complicity. “Labeling this crisis as ‘farmer-herder clashes’ is dishonest. It hides the truth: these are targeted killings.” John confirms that many attackers are transnational Fulani militias from Mali, Niger, and Chad—motivated by land seizures and ethno-religious domination. Justice, Not Hollow Reconciliation For communities reeling from these attacks, calls for peace and reconciliation feel empty without justice. Utoo asked: “Negotiate or reconcile with terrorists who kill?” Francis John added: “Reconciliation without justice only emboldens the killers. You can’t ask victims to forgive when nobody is held accountable.” HOPe Africa is calling for: – Trauma-informed resettlement for displaced families – Early warning systems to prevent future massacres – Hybrid war crimes tribunals to hold perpetrators accountable – Peacebuilding led by faith leaders and civil society “We must replace impunity with justice,” John urged. “And restore dignity to Nigeria’s forgotten frontlines.” Military Aiding Terrorists Through Selective Arrests – Middle Belt Forum President Dr. Bitrus Pogu, National President of the Middle Belt Forum—an umbrella body representing over 45 million Nigerian Christians—has accused the Nigerian military of complicity and bias in its handling of terrorist attacks. The military has consistently shown reluctance to pursue known terrorist groups, even when their hideouts are well identified, according to Pogu speaking to TruthNigeria. “The military is very reluctant to go after the terrorists, even when they know exactly where they are hiding,” he said. “Even when the terrorists’ cattle invade Christian farmlands, the military takes little to no action.” Pogu further claimed that when Christian communities attempt to defend their lives and ancestral lands, they are often met with swift and harsh military crackdowns. “If our youths try to defend their communities, the military storms in, arrests them, confiscates their locally made pipe guns, tortures them, and hands them over to the police. The police, in turn, brutalize and detain them without due process.” He added that the Middle Belt Forum has intervened on several occasions to secure the release of arbitrarily detained youths. “This pattern of selective arrests and inaction toward actual perpetrators raises serious questions about the neutrality and role of the Nigerian military in these conflicts,” Dr. Pogu said. Nigerian Military Insists it is Fighting Back However, the Nigerian military has refuted these allegations saying that it is fighting the terrorists. A few days after the Yelewata attacks, Nigeria Police boss, Kayode Egbetokun said 26 persons have been arrested by the police in connection with the killings in Benue. Were the suspects then charged with murder? No reported evidence of that. According to Punch, from July 10, the Nigerian Office of the Attorney General of the Federation has taken over the prosecution of the 26 individuals arrested in connection to the murder of 260 people in Yelewata. The 26 suspected killers have confessed to their involvement, according to MSN, but their arraignment in court has been delayed due to the transfer of the case to the Ministry of Justice, according to Punch. The charges against them have not been published, And as of July 17, 2025, two days after the Tashoss precinct massacre, the Nigeria military says its troops of Operation Safe Haven rejected a ₦13.7 million bribe from terrorists during an operation along the Jos-Sanga Road, arresting suspects and recovering weapons and cash. Raids across Plateau, Kaduna, and Nasarawa led to more arrests and rescues. However, local communities remain skeptical, citing ongoing violence and a lack of announced prosecutions. The Defence Headquarters praised the troops’ integrity, while rights groups urged formal recognition for their ethical conduct.

Several Ugandans have recently been jailed for offensive remarks made against President Yoweri Museveni Anadolu Agency via Getty Images By Basillioh Rukang | BBC News A Ugandan university student who mysteriously went missing two months ago after posting a TikTok video that harshly criticised President Yoweri Museveni's leadership has been jailed. Elson Tumwine disappeared on 8 June - sparking accusations from opposition figures and activists that he had been abducted and illegally detained by military agents. Following an outcry over his disappearance, he was then reportedly left at a police station in Entebbe in mid-July and was subsequently charged with offensive communication and computer misuse. He pleaded guilty and asked for forgiveness. The magistrates' court in Entebbe sentenced him to two months in jail on Monday, noting his pleas for leniency. Tumwine's sentencing and alleged abduction have raised concerns among human rights activists around freedom of speech ahead of elections next year. In court, the third-year Makerere University undergraduate admitted to posting the video that prosecutors said was intended "to ridicule, demean and incite hostility". He is alleged to have doctored a clip of the parliamentary speaker's response to a general apology Museveni issued in May to the Baganda people , Uganda's largest ethnic group and who form the traditional Buganda kingdom. Over Museveni's nearly four decades in power, relations with the kingdom and its monarch have at times been strained. The kingdom has no political power but remains influential. Tumwine's TikTok post accused the 80-year-old president of not apologising for other things during his time in power. When Tumwine's disappeared in June, Makerere University issued an urgent appeal for information that could help find him. He had been working as an agricultural intern in Hoima, western Uganda, as part of his studies at the time he went missing. Two weeks ago, the secretary-general of opposition NUP party David Lewis Rubongoya said they had information that Tumwine and another suspect were being held at a police station in Entebbe - having being "dumped" there on 13 July. He alleged they were taken there after being subjected to "incredible torture" at the hands of the country's military intelligence unit. The authorities have not commented on these allegations. Criticising the trial, lawyer and activist Godwin Toko said Tumwine had refused to let lawyers from his organisation or those from the opposition represent him in court. "For a man who was abducted, held incommunicado for months, nudged to plead guilty and then sentenced, this is the apogee of injustice that it is not his captor punished, but him getting a criminal record to his name at such a young age," he posted on X on Tuesday. Last November, 21-year-old Emmanuel Nabugodi was jailed for 32 months after creating a video said to insult Museveni. Months earlier, Edward Awebwa, 24, was sentenced to six years in prison for hate speech and spreading "malicious" information against the first family. © 2025 BBC

AFP via Getty Images By Amnesty International Responding to reports that at least 29 people were killed, hundreds more injured and more than 1,200 people arbitrarily arrested in Luanda, Huambo, Benguela and Huíla, during a three-day taxi drivers’ strike which started on 28 July, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa regional office Tigere Chagutah said: “Nobody should be killed, arrested or injured for simply striking. The Angolan security forces must refrain from using unnecessary and disproportionate force during protests and observe due procedure before arresting those suspected of engaging in unlawful conduct. “Security forces have an obligation to ensure the safety of the public and respect and protect human rights during their operations, including when addressing isolated cases of individuals involved in looting shops, and destroying property. “We call on the Angolan authorities to promptly initiate an independent, thorough and impartial investigation into the killings and injuries resulting from this crackdown. Perpetrators must be held to account in fair trials that meet international standards and victims of the violations, and their families must be guaranteed comprehensive reparation, which should be proportional to the gravity of the violations and the harm suffered. “Authorities must also disclose information about those who have been arrested by security forces whose whereabouts remain unknown.” Background This week’s protests follow similar ones called by the Angolan Civil Society Movement on 12, 19 and 26 July following a fuel price hike. During the 12 and 19 July protests, Angolan security forces responded with unnecessary and excessive force resulting in at least three people being injured. 12 people were also arrested in Luanda. The Angola National Taxi Association (ANATA) called for a three-day strike starting on 28 July 2025. Violent clashes with police, acts of “vandalism” and looting were reported in different parts of Luanda, Huambo, Benguela and Huíla. On 30 July, the Minister of Interior, Manuel Homem, confirmed the arrest of 1,214 people, 29 deaths and over 200 injured in three days of strike. However, it is likely that not all casualties have been reported and the number of dead or injured could be higher. © 2025 Amnesty International

The amnesty law would shield security forces from accountability for human rights abuses during Peru’s internal conflict. Peruvian President Dina Boluarte celebrates Peru's Independence Day on July 28 [Martin Mejia/AP Photo] President Dina Boluarte has blasted the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for its opposition to a recently passed bill that would grant amnesty to soldiers, police officers and other security personnel involved in Peru’s internal conflict from 1985 to 2000. On Thursday, Boluarte asserted that the international court had overstepped its authority by seeking the law’s suspension. “We are not anyone’s colony,” she said,  posting  a snippet of her speech to social media. “And we will not allow the intervention of the Inter-American Court that intends to suspend a bill that seeks justice for members of our armed forces, our National Police and the self-defence committees that fought, risking their lives, against the insanity of terrorism.” Since passing Peru’s Congress in July, the amnesty law has been awaiting Boluarte’s approval. She can either sign it into law, allow it to take effect automatically or send it back to Congress for revisions. But the bill has prompted international outcry, not least because it is seen to shield security forces from accountability for the atrocities that unfolded during Peru’s war. The legislation would also offer “humanitarian” amnesty to perpetrators over age 70 who have been convicted of wartime crimes. Some 70,000 people were killed in the internal conflict, the majority of them from rural and Indigenous communities. Soldiers and police officers were ostensibly tasked with combatting armed uprisings from rebel groups like the Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. But the conflict became infamous for its human rights abuses and massacres of civilians with no ties to any rebel group. Francisco Ochoa was 14 years old when residents in his Andean village, Accomarca, were slaughtered by soldiers. He  told Al Jazeera earlier this week  that he and other survivors felt “outraged and betrayed” by the new amnesty law. International organisations have likewise denounced the law as a step backwards for Peruvian society. Nine human rights experts with the United Nations signed a statement on July 17 expressing “alarm” at the bill’s passage through Congress. They called on the government of Peru to veto the bill. “The proposed legislation would prevent the criminal prosecution and condemnation of individuals who committed gross human rights violations during Peru’s internal armed conflict,” they said. “It would put the State in clear breach of its obligations under international law.” A week later, on July 24, the president of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Nancy Hernandez Lopez, ordered Peru to “immediately suspend the processing” of the bill. She ruled that the legislation violated previous rulings against such amnesty laws in the country. “If it is not suspended, the competent authorities refrain from enforcing this law,” she said. She noted that a session would be convened with survivors, Peruvian officials and members of the  Inter-American Commission on Human Rights  (IACHR). In previous rulings, the Inter-American Court has found that amnesty laws and statutes of limitations are unlawful in the case of serious human rights violations like forced disappearances and extrajudicial executions. It also declared that age is not a disqualifying factor for suspects accused of grave human rights abuses. Such exemptions, the court said, are only acceptable under international law for lesser or nonviolent offences. The National Human Rights Coordinator, a coalition of humanitarian groups in Peru, estimates that the country’s latest amnesty law could overturn 156 convictions and disrupt more than 600 ongoing investigations. A previous amnesty law implemented in 1995, under then-President Alberto Fujimori, was later repealed. Still, President Boluarte on Thursday sought to frame her government’s actions as in line with international human rights standards. “We are defenders of human rights, of citizens,” she wrote on social media, while emphasising that her government was “free”, “sovereign” and “autonomous”, apparent jabs at the Inter-American Court’s decision. © 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network

The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo protest President Javier Milei's reforms in Buenos Aires, January 2024 ©Shutterstock On the grounds of a former naval academy in a Buenos Aires neighborhood, a pearl gray Skyvan PA-51 sits parked on a concrete walkway.  It appears to be an ordinary plane. But between 1976 and 1983, it was  used as an instrument of murder  by Argentina's military dictatorship. Up to 30,000 people are believed to have been "disappeared," or murdered.  Anyone deemed to be an enemy of the state could be ordered aboard the Skyvan to take a "death flight:" to be flown out over the Atlantic Ocean and pushed out at 10,000 feet. For decades, the planes used to commit these murders were thought to still exist but had never been found.  But an Argentine journalist, Miriam Lewin, tracked an aircraft down and decoded its flight logs, revealing its round trips out to the middle of the ocean.  Lewin used the logs to learn the fate of 12 women, including two French nuns, who had been "disappeared" by the state in December 1977. She discovered they had been killed on one of these death flights. In a 60 Minutes interview, correspondent Jon Wertheim asked Lewin why the military would resort to such a cruel method of murder. "Death flights allowed them to disappear the bodies of the disappeared," Lewin said.  "No trail, no clues whatsoever that could incriminate them." Argentina's military regime adopted another inhumane practice during this period: babies of pregnant mothers held in captivity were given to military families that wanted to adopt. 60 Minutes spoke with Guillermo Pérez Roisinblit, who was separated at birth from his biological mother Patricia while she was detained, and then raised by a family with connections to the military. Wertheim asked Roisinblit how it felt to learn that the family who had raised him for 20 years, had abducted him and were not his biological parents. "It's a very, very confusing time… it's like all the ties that you have at that moment are cut and you're absolutely alone," he said.  The former naval academy in Buenos Aires, La Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada, or ESMA, was used as a detention and torture facility during the military dictatorship. Lewin herself was once held prisoner there. Through processes known as Truth, Memory and Justice, ESMA was transformed into a museum and became a home for human rights organizations and government agencies who document and educate the public about the dictatorship's crimes.  In September 2023, ESMA was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The National Archive of Remembrance, where primary source documents related to the dictatorship are catalogued and used as a valuable resource for criminal prosecutions, is located at ESMA. ESMA is also a base for Madres de Plaza de Mayo and Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, human rights organizations led by the mothers and grandmothers of those who had been disappeared by the dictatorship. Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo uses DNA testing to identify stolen or missing children from the dictatorship era. They say they've found 139 children so far, and estimate hundreds more are waiting to be found.  The president of Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo is Estela de Carlotto. After decades of searching, she found her grandson. Her daughter Laura gave birth to him in captivity and was later killed.  Carlotto told Wertheim in an interview, just before the current president Javier Milei took office, that government subsidies, that they have received for decades, are critical for their operations. But President Milei campaigned on sweeping promises of austerity and budget cuts to right the Argentine economy.  Starting this past December, human rights workers in government agencies, museums, research and investigative organizations were laid off.  According to a union representative for state employees, roughly half of the workers in the Human Rights Secretariat were laid off or fired.  At the National Archive for Remembrance, half of the investigative staff has been laid off. One employee remains in document conservation, and two people are left in digitization. State agencies, including the Central Registry for Victims of State Terrorism and the National Identity Commission (CONADI), that help investigate the dictatorship's crimes, and even the ESMA museum itself also saw staff cuts. An entire facility with staff that promotes human rights through the visual arts, the Haroldo Conti Cultural Center, has been shuttered indefinitely for "restructuring," according to then-National Human Rights Secretariat Alberto Baños, who is now the Human Rights Undersecretary. In January, thousands of protestors rallied at ESMA to protest the layoffs and the closing of the cultural center. One of those protestors was Miriam Lewin.  "We organized lots of activities to support the ex-ESMA, to support the cultural center, to support the archives, to support the workers that were fired," she told 60 Minutes Overtime. "We had this huge rally, with lots of young people, with the participation of musicians, dancers, writers, poets, and lots of human rights activists, lots of students, lots of survivors. [And] we had, of course, the Grandmothers and the Mothers for Plaza de Mayo." Lewin was at the protest that night when candles were lit. She looked around to see crowds surrounding the Skyvan used for the "death flights."  "And it's [there] and can be seen as a symbol and a proof of state terrorism… so it was very, very moving," she told 60 Minutes Overtime.  The Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo have not received any subsidies from the Milei government, and their questions about the status of the funds remain unanswered. In early January, Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona wrote on X that he had cut off all government funding to the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, calling them a "con." 60 Minutes Overtime reached out to Minister Libarona to ask about the status of these subsidies, but did not receive a response. 60 Minutes Overtime also reached out to then-Human Rights Secretariat Alberto Baños. He too did not answer questions about the layoffs. The Milei government has continued to lay off workers and cut funding for human rights in recent months.  In April, Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona said the Ministry of Justice cut funds designated for ESMA, saying they would initiate an audit and suspend all payments "until there is transparent accounting." In May, the Milei government downgraded the Human Rights Secretariat to an undersecretariat, and 30% of employees will be laid off as a result.  And earlier this month, the executive director of the Museum and Site of Memory at ESMA, Mayki Gorosito, was fired. "If I could talk to President Milei and Vice President Villarruel, I would ask them to stop this policy of destruction," Lewin told Overtime. "We have grandmothers looking for their grandchildren." "I would ask them for empathy… 'please, have some empathy.'" Copyright ©2025 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.

FILE -President Donald Trump listens as Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe speaks during a event with Congo’s Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, June 27, 2025, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, as Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, watch. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) By Ignatius Ssunna and Gerald Imray KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwanda on Tuesday became the third African nation to agree to accept deportees from the United States under the Trump administration’s plans to send migrants to countries they have no ties with to get them off American soil. Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo told The Associated Press in a statement that the East African country would accept up to 250 deportees from the U.S., with “the ability to approve each individual proposed for resettlement” under the agreement. Makolo didn’t provide a timeline for any deportees to arrive in Rwanda or say if they would arrive at once or in several batches. She said details were still being worked out. The U.S. sent 13 men it described as dangerous criminals who were in the U.S. illegally to South Sudan and Eswatini in Africa last month and has said it is seeking more agreements with African nations. It said those deportees’ home countries refused to take them back. The U.S. has also deported hundreds of Venezuelans and others to Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama under President Donald Trump’s plans to expel people who he says entered the U.S. illegally and are “the worst of the worst.” Rwanda attracted international attention and some outrage when it struck a deal in 2022 with the U.K. to accept migrants who had arrived in the U.K. to seek asylum. Under that proposed deal, their claims would have been processed in Rwanda and, if successful, they would have stayed there. The contentious agreement was criticized by rights groups and others as being unethical and unworkable and was ultimately scrapped when Britain’s new Labour government took over. Britain’s Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that the deal was unlawful because Rwanda was not a safe third country for migrants. The Trump administration has come under scrutiny for the African countries it has entered into secretive deals with to take deportees. It sent eight men from South Sudan, Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan in early July after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for their deportations. They were held for weeks in a converted shipping container at an American military base in Djibouti as the legal battle over their deportations played out. South Sudan, which is tipping toward civil war, has declined to say where the men are being held or what their fate is. The U.S. also deported five men who are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos to the southern African kingdom of Eswatini, where the government said they will be held in solitary confinement in prison for an undetermined period of time. A human rights lawyer in Eswatini said the men are being denied access to legal representation there and has taken authorities to court. Eswatini is Africa’s last absolute monarchy, and the king rules over government and political parties are effectively banned. Both South Sudan and Eswatini have declined to give details of their agreements with the U.S. Rwanda, a relatively small country of some 15 million people, has long stood out on the continent for its recovery from a genocide that killed over 800,000 people in 1994. It has promoted itself under longtime President Paul Kagame as an example of stability and development, but human rights groups allege there are also deadly crackdowns on any perceived dissent against Kagame, who has been president for 25 years. Government spokesperson Makolo said the agreement with the U.S. was Rwanda doing its part to help with international migration issues because “our societal values are founded on reintegration and rehabilitation.” “Those approved (for resettlement in Rwanda) will be provided with workforce training, healthcare, and accommodation support to jumpstart their lives in Rwanda, giving them the opportunity to contribute to one of the fastest-growing economies in the world over the last decade,” she said. There were no details about whether Rwanda had received anything in return for taking the deportees. Gonzaga Muganwa, a Rwandan political analyst, said “appeasing President Trump pays.” “This agreement enhances Rwanda’s strategic interest of having good relationships with the Trump administration,” he said. The U.K. government estimated that its failed migration deal with Rwanda cost around $900 million in public money, including approximately $300 million in payments to Rwanda, which said it was not obligated to refund the money when the agreement fell apart. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Escalating attacks in Cabo Delgado are taking place amid major cuts in international aid. A new outbreak of violence occurred in northern Mozambique, which has large offshore natural gas reserves [File: Alfredo Zuniga/AFP] Nearly 60,000 people have fled Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province in two weeks, a United Nations agency has said, amid a years-long rebellion by fighters affiliated with ISIL (ISIS) . The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement on Tuesday that escalating attacks that began on July 20 had displaced 57,034 people, or 13,343 families. Chiúre was the hardest-hit district, with more than 42,000 people uprooted, more than half of them children, the IOM said. “So far, around 30,000 displaced people have received food, water, shelter, and essential household items,” Paola Emerson, who heads the Mozambique branch of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told the AFP news agency. Emerson said OCHA was preparing to step up its assistance in the coming days. “The response, however, is not yet at the scale required to meet growing needs,” she said, in a context of cuts to international aid by the United States and other countries. “Funding cuts mean life-saving aid is being scaled back,” she added. The UN’s 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan for Mozambique has so far received only 19 percent of the pledges requested. The organisation also stressed that the lack of safety and documentation, and involuntary relocations, were compounding protection risks. The Southern African nation has been fighting a rebellion by a group known locally as al-Shabab,  though with no links to the Somali fighters of a similar name, in the north for at least eight years. Rwandan soldiers have been deployed to help Mozambique fight them. More than 6,100 people have been killed since the beginning of the insurrection, according to conflict tracker ACLED, including 364 last year, according to data from the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies. Cabo Delgado has large offshore natural gas reserves, and the fighting caused the suspension of operations by the French company Total Energies in 2021. The French fossil fuel giant has said it hopes to re-ignite the $20bn gas project this summer. Human Rights Watch last month said the armed group had “ramped up abductions of children”, using them as fighters or for labour or marriage. The group said recruiting or using children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities constitutes a war crime. © 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network

Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Global President, Isōko Centre for Humanity, Kigali, Rwanda. Former Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary General on the Prevention of Genocide Alice Wairimu Nderitu (2025)   Alice Wairimu Nderitu is the Global President, Isōko Centre for Humanity.   She served previously as United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Secretary General on the Prevention of Genocide from November 2021 to November 2024. She prioritized translation of the concept of genocide prevention as an international, regional and national norm to a practical reality implemented at the community level. This was backed by new policy documents including   Combating Holocaust and Genocide Denial: Protecting Survivors, Preserving Memory, and Promoting Prevention  (first UN document to recognize the IHRI definition) The  Plan Of Action for Women in Communities to Counter Hate Speech and Prevent Incitement to Violence that Could Lead to Genocide and Related Crimes (War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity)  (The Napoli, Plan of Action) The Declaration of Sudanese Women on Implementing the Napoli Plan of Action , The Plan of Action for Traditional Leaders and Actors to Counter Hate Speech and Prevent Incitement to Violence that lead to Genocide  (Abuja/ Muscat Plan of Action) Guidance Note on Persons with Disabilities and Prevention of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanit y.   The Plan of Action for Media Stakeholders in Preventing Hate Speech and Incitement to Violence that could lead to Genocide  (The Nyamata, Plan of Action)  Other policy documents included the Policy Guidance for Dialogue and Mediation in Situations at Risk of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity (2024)   Preventing Ethnic Genocide: A Policy Guidance Note   She prioritized development of educational policy materials and curricula on the prevention of genocide with the aim of integration into national educational programs.  Specific curricula include: Comprehensive Training Manual on the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) and its Implementation   Course curriculum on atrocity prevention for undergraduate students for the Asia-Pacific region piloted at the University of Gadjah Mada in Indonesia and Chulalongkorn University in Thailand (2022). Teacher’s guidebook and course curriculum on atrocity prevention for undergraduate students for South-East Asia piloted in Indonesia, Cambodia, and Thailand (2022). Course curriculum on atrocity prevention for African scholars (2023). Worked with Keene State College to develop a dedicated graduate certificate on applied genocide prevention, with a thematic module on hate speech within the programme (2024) Addressing Hate Speech through Education: A Guide for Policy-Makers  ((With UNESCO, in follow up to the October 2021 Global Education Ministers' Conference on education as a tool to tackle hate speech),    She operationalized the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech  through: The first United Nations online course on countering and addressing hate speech by UN staff. Policy documents such as:    A Comprehensive Methodology for Monitoring Social Media to Address and Counter Online Hate Speech . A Conceptual Analysis of the Overlaps and Differences between Hate Speech, Misinformation and Disinformation     Countering and Addressing Online Hate Speech: A Guide for Policy Makers and Practitioners    The Game Plan: Implementing the Plan of Action to Counter Hate Speech through Engagement with Sport .   She also institutionalized many partnership arrangements aimed at amplifying the collective capacity to prevent and gave visibility to Champions of Prevention  who often operate in challenging environments.   Ms. Nderitu previously headed the Human Rights Education and Capacity-Building Programme of the  Kenya National Commission on Human Rights , was a Commonwealth Exchange Fellow on education at the  South African Human Rights Commission , served as Director of Education for Social Justice at the non-profit organization Fahamu   (Oxford, UK) and as Commissioner of the  National Cohesion and Integration Commission  (NCIC) in Kenya. At NCIC, she headed the education department and co-founded the Uwiano Platform for Peace in 2010, a conflict-prevention agency that pioneered mobile technology linking early warning to early response. She also supported the Myanmar government in 2015 to set up a similar platform.   She has contributed to defining the role of women mediators of armed conflict, as one of the few women mediator signatories to peace agreements. This includes; (a) as the only woman in the 16-month mediation leading to the 2012 peace agreement involving 100 elders resulting in the Nakuru County Peace Accord signed by 10 ethnic communities in Kenya (b) as lead mediator in the yearlong peace process in Kaduna State, Nigeria leading to the Kafanchan Peace Declaration, signed by 29 ethnic communities (c) as lead mediator in the one and a half year long process leading to the Southern Plateau Inter-Communal Peace Declaration, signed by 56 ethnic communities in Plateau State, Nigeria. She founded Community Voices for Peace and Pluralism, a network of African women professionals preventing and/or transforming violent, ethnic, racial, and religious conflicts worldwide. She served as a member of the African Unions Network of African Women in Conflict Prevention and Mediation (Fem-Wise), and Global Alliance of Women Mediators and the Concerned Citizens for Peace, a group of Elders facilitating peace confidentially between African leaders at the highest levels. With the Women Waging Peace Network, she worked to foster dialogue in the Bangsamoro, Mindanao, Philippines.   She has served as an  Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities  instructor, as Summer Course faculty member at SIT Graduate Institute, Vermont, Brattleboro, USA, and as lecturer of the Socio-Economic Rights course at Pretoria University’s Centre for Human Rights, South Africa. She has also served as facilitator of the Senior Mission Leaders Course at the International Peace Support Training Center, Kenya and the Rwanda Military Academy, Rwanda.   Ms. Nderitu is a Transitional Justice Fellow of the  Institute for Justice and Reconciliation  (IJR), South Africa (2011),  Woman Peace Maker of the Year of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice ,  University of San Diego  (2012), Aspen Leadership scholar (2015), inaugural Global Pluralism Awardee for commitment to conflict prevention and an innovative approach to mediation by the  Global Centre for Pluralism  – awarded by His Highness the Aga Khan  and the Government of Canada (2017),  Jack P. Blaney Awardee for using dialogue to support conflict resolution by the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue,  Simon Fraser University , Canada (2018), Diversity and Inclusion Peace and Cohesion Champion (2019). She was also named 5 th  in the 2023 Avance Media's 100 Most Influential African Women.   She is widely published and has authored, among others, Conflict Transformation and Human Rights: A Mutual Stalemate ? Berghof Conflict Research (2009), "7 myths standing in the way of women's inclusion"  with Jacqueline O'Neill , Inclusive Security (2013), Beyond Ethnicism: Exploring Ethnic and Racial Diversity for Educators  (2015),    African Peace Building: Civil Society Roles in Conflict , with Pamela Aall and Chester A. Crocker (eds) (2016), Catherine Ndereba: The Authorised Biography of a Marathon World Record holder (2016), Kenya : Bridging Ethnic Divides, A Commissioner’s Experience on Cohesion and Integration (2018),  Women Peace and Security as a political movement, with Swanee Hunt , The Oxford Handbook of Women, Peace, and Security. New York: Oxford University Press (2018), Mukami Kimathi – Mau Mau Woman Freedom Fighter (2019) and the Companion for Women Mediating Armed Conflict  (2020) She has also been a columnist with  The EastAfrican  newspaper.   Ms. Nderitu holds an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Keene State College, USA, a master’s degree in Armed Conflict and Peace Studies and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Literature and Philosophy from the University of Nairobi.